Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Lobby Journalists in Playground Fisticuffs

There was a wonderful spat between Peter Oborne and Steve Richards right at the end of the Today programme. They were discussing whether political journalists weren less reverential than they used to be. Oborne accused Richards of being in the pocket of the political classes and it descended from there. Wonderful stuff. Listen HERE.

Oh, and if you click on the 8.20am story you might also hear a voice you recognise discussing the forthcoming Thatcher film with Spitting Image's Steve Nallon. More HERE.

I respect Steve Richards greatly, and yes, politicians do work hard and most of them want to do the right thing, but he cannot deny that while that little demon sits on their shoulder whispering "do what you have to do to gain or stay in power" the public interest will always run the risk of being compromised by party expediency. We know it, they know it, and Steve knows it, and that's why Peter Oborne's line will always resonate with most of the public.

Public service is an honourable profession, Steve, but you've got to work harder to persuade us that the same can be said for politics.

Obourne has previously written [of the media] that "it is hard to imagine any environment for political decision making that could be more damaging and unhelpful".

This appears to me to be nearer the truth. Slagging off all politicians is what the media defaults to in their coverage. This might play to a generalised feeling of cynicism about politics in the UK but it is not helpful and the poltical coverage doesn't provide a fair reflection of the way politics is actually conducted in the UK.